My Apologies, good Sir
by Lawrence-Black
Summary: Celina Finlayton is a well regarded, but mischievous member of the london dispatch. She struggles with daily life, wrangling grell and fighting with office staff, but when she runs into a few age old demons who recognise her from her long forgotten human life, she begins a quest that could make or break her, all to find out what happend to her all those years ago.


**Now I'm not particularly happy with this and I've had it typed for a long time and thought I should put it on here, I doubt updates will be fast and I cant promise anything. I work this from the idea that reapers are some what in a more advanced than the humans and I only take some input from the will the reaper and none of the plot from it. Okay well I think that's everything please, enjoy!  
Also It doesn't really finish properly and could do with a totally rejig but hey-ho!**

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It was a scene of normality for a Monday morning for the six reapers who all shared a house (reapers are given a home to share with up to five others, sort of like a board house, separate bedrooms with private studies but with communal bathroom, kitchen and living room) and the usual scene was occurring Grell was obviously still applying her makeup in the bathroom, Ronald was banging on the door shouting at Grell because he hadn't even showered yet, and they were due to leave in fifteen minutes, Eric was sat at the kitchen table demanding that Alan cooked faster, and William stood facing the kitchen bench getting his hair fixed by the lean woman sitting on it.

The woman was not a new addition to the London group; she had begun her training a year after Grell and William. Although very few women were trained to be reapers and not sent to the general affairs office, only say one in two hundred women who became 'un-dead' this one was selected specially for the London dispatch, slightly odd in mind and for correct build for physical fights, if they were required, just right for the rougher back streets.

The girl herself named Celina Finlayton, was about the age of 19 when she became a reaper, she was very tall and lightly muscled, her skin was slightly sun kissed from the outdoors life she'd had whilst human and her long wild dark blonde hair flew wildly about her in tight waves.

As of now she sat on the kitchen counter trying to smooth William's naturally messy hair, while laughing at Eric and Alan arguing the case that patience is not a virtue.  
"Look what I don't see is why hurry the fuck up can't be a virtue" Eric boomed  
"Because, Eric, that's rude, you can't get anywhere in life being rude!" Alan said placing food on the table  
"He's right; you should listen to Alan more often" Celina put in slyly with a coy smirk on her face

"We need to leave shortly" William said, wisely he knew to stop things before they escalated.

Upstairs Ronald was still hammering on the door so he could shower after his two-day bender over the weekend, he still smelt strongly of booze and cigarettes.  
"Grell! I know you can hear me!" they could hear him shout,  
"Ronald darling, beauty takes time! We can't all be like William and _roll _out of bed looking good!"  
"Nuh-uh, Celina spends twenty minutes doing his hair almost every day!"  
Grell puffed and stomped out of the room finally letting Ronald inside  
"fine Ronnie, I'm done anyway, I just have to make sure I look beautiful for all my men!" she said stroking Ronald's face as she passed, Ronald shuddered and went in the room to get showered.

William stood downstairs and sighed, lightly patted his newly done hair "thank you, Celina. I wish they'd stop this bickering every Monday; it's much too childish for someone who's been around as long as Grell. Something to do with people around influencing him"  
"I'll pretend to be offended shall I?" she questioned  
"not necessary Celina, if it weren't for your lack of ambition I'd say you're good to have around him, It's a miracle you agreed to supervise with me"  
she looked mildly surprised at the sort of compliment, she said nothing but smirked crookedly and pushed her wide, thick framed glasses up her nose.  
Grell came clattering down the stairs and the males sighed and prepared for whatever Grell may say, however she said nothing but grabbed her coat and headed out of the house  
"what on earth just happened?" Alan stammered,  
"Did Grell actually not say something or have I been drinking?" Eric said in a state of shock  
"Yeah, I told her to play hard to get, thought that might be your thing Will?" Celina grinned, swept her hand across Williams's waist, winked, and then she slung on her coat and grabbed an apple from the bowl and ran to catch up with Grell. "Those two will be the death of us I swear" Alan muttered as he watched Celina run out the door.

When she caught up with Grell she was pink cheeked from the cold autumn air, Celina put her hand on Grell's shoulder "slow down, I'm not an athlete"  
"sorry, I just really want this hard to get thing to work"  
"I'm not making any promises, I don't know if it'll work, I don't even know if _you're _his type"  
"what's that supposed to mean!"  
"I'm not going to argue with you about it Grell, you know what I mean"  
she puffed and nodded "I guess" Grell bounced back as she usually did "well Celina-Chan! Its Halloween tomorrow, big party and all that" Celina nodded not quite knowing as per usual where her close friend was headed with this "so I was wondering if I could do your makeup and choose and outfit? Please Celina! _Please!_"  
"Grell, I can dress myself thank you very much"  
"Not to offend you, love, but you really aren't able to dress yourself for such an occasion"  
"I'm not?" She paused briefly and then continued along the busy street to catch up with Grell  
"no you're not, look at you!' Celina looked down at herself baggy trousers around her long legs , thick black boots and a large black blazer and duffle coat over her middle, she may not have dressed fashionably but she had been around the office women long enough to know how to use her body to an advantage,  
"I look fine!"  
"Not compared to what you could look like! I mean those pants look big enough to be Slingby's!"  
"I call it comfort"  
"I call it hideous and boy-ish"  
"fine, tomorrow night I'll let you dress me up and then we'll see"  
"really? Excellent!"

Ten minutes or so later the two had reached the portal to the office and they wondered to the staff common room to grab a coffee before actually doing some work Grell talked on excitedly about this and that, while Celina trotted faithfully alongside Grell with her coffee and listened for signs of any potential plans Grell had for her costume.

Grell reached his office he shared with William first and said goodbye to Celina who walked alone to her office she shared with Ronald. About twenty minutes later Ron showed up his mismatched hair still wet from his rather delayed shower  
"Hey Celina" he said extending the 'e' slightly and pulling of his jacket and scarf  
"late as usual? Because as a supervisor I'm required to report such matters" both knew she wouldn't report something as mediocre as being late, non-the-less Ronald played along,  
"Nonsense! I'm never late!" he said with a wink "hey, you done with that coffee?" he pointed to the cold mug of coffee on her desk it was only half full,  
"um sure? But just go grab some from the canteen?"  
"Nah, late enough as it is" he grabbed the cup and sat at his desk "so I hear Grell is dressing you for tomorrow night?"  
"How on earth do _you_ know that?"  
"He's been telling everyone in the dispatch who will listen to him about it, from what I stuck around to listen to its going to be the usual cat-type costume"  
Celina groaned "urgh, fan-bloody-tastic, can't wait for it"  
"You sound thrilled"  
"oh I am, I wasn't even going to go"  
"why not? You like going out"  
"that's with you! Not around people from work, besides aren't you supposed to have dates for this type of thing?"  
"Not really, I mean look at the London office, not a chance any of those awkward and unattractive people will have dates"  
"Ronald, _we are_ the London office"  
"my point exactly! The London office is notorious for having a bunch of strange people who have terrible social lives!"  
She laughed "suits us lot just fine then!"  
he nodded "it'll be a laugh, and tell you what, if you feel awfully lonely just call on your boy Knox over here and I'll spend time with you, though I'm likely to be very drunk and probably not great company" he laughed  
"I'll be okay, I'll hang out with William in the loser corner, wouldn't want to cramp your style" she said grinning, the two then got down to some paperwork, occasionally speaking to the other.

About two hours later Grell popped in to Ronald and Celina's office and got himself comfy in the small sofa, Ronald and Celina looked at the reaper sprawled on the sofa "um, hi Grell" Celina said looking puzzled "not being rude Grell but why are you here?"  
"William's in the office and this hard to get plan is more difficult than it looks"  
"then go back to your usual self and have Mr Spears use his scythe to plant your face into the floor every time you speak"  
"he doesn't do it _every time_, oh and I have the most _wonderful_ piece of gossip for you my dear!"  
"When you two ladies are done, Celina and I have work to do" Ronald butted in, although he was often mischievous and lackadaisical, when he decided to work he really liked to keep his head down, which he obviously had decided to do, the two women knew they had no chance of continuing their chat in the office, having finished most of her reports Celina could spare the time to slope of for a chat with Grell.

The two went into the female toilets after Celina proclaiming to really need a pee, they were empty so as Celina went into a stall Grell stood outside and started telling of her last escapade with "Sebas-chan!" Celina, listened politely, but was quite uninterested in tales such as this, however unlike most reapers did not mind demons one bit; they didn't repel her at all for reasons unknown. William however was not fond at all of them, to say this would be an understatement, truthfully, he despised them, he didn't say this often though it would be 'improper in polite society'

The next evening arrived quicker than expected and upon seeing the costume Grell had picked out for her wished she had stayed home more than ever. With the reaper realm not being large enough to house much more than the extensive library, dispatch workers were to live in the human realm and go on with daily lives as though they were merely office workers, of course other than sharing a house with other reapers of your set town (as in being reapers for London, Manchester, Kent etc.)

Anyway the outfit Grell had chosen would not be any more reviling than anything the other women would have on; Grell herself would not be attending the party, punishments for one thing or another added up and she was told that she would not be allowed to attend office organised events for several months.

Grell looked at what she liked to think of as her family, they all stood in various costumes nothing special the basic vampire or werewolf situation, everyone at the dispatch would be in costume if you weren't, likeliness was they wouldn't let you in. More senior members wore as little of a costume as possible, William had tried (somewhat) and he even wore a cape and in his hand he held some prosthetic vampire teeth, you could however tell he had no intention of actually them putting them in, it was one of the things he did to show he wasn't a total stick in the mud, Alan had a pointed hat, a stick and some sort of robes, he was doing quite a good job of being a wizard, Eric stood closely next to him and was being a kind of wolf man, Ronald laughed at their old school outfits and claimed to be an Italian mobster, he had been to collect a soul that had belonged to an Italian noble man, Ronald had been quite taken with his dapper clothing for some time now and even after seeing his record he still pressed that the man was a mobster, but what better time to try out the dead man's look than at a Halloween party! Last but not least came Celina who stood looking thoroughly uncomfortable with herself and her so called 'cat' costume (how a pair cat ears and some whiskers drawn on with eyeliner and some type of skin tight fabric that showed all too much for Celina's personal taste counted as a cat costume she had _no _idea) none the less she held herself like a lady as always, she did not however smile, if she was to be made a fool of she wouldn't do it willingly, and certainly not with a smile on her face.

"Right well off you go! Celina love, do try and smile!" Grell pouted to them as they headed out the door, Celina replied with a scowl. They wondered down the street to the office where the party would be held, it was quiet for a while, mostly because the foul mood Celina was in meant most of them were afraid to say anything that might set her off. Other than Eric of course, who thought it would be a nice start to the evening to wind Celina up a little.  
"So, Celina, I like your tail"  
"don't start Eric I am not in the mood!"  
"Hey! I was paying a friendly compliment, honestly, its very sexy"  
"would you stop it?"  
"I'm being nice!"  
"Whatever you say Slingby"  
it was silent for a few minutes till Eric started again with "oh I like your ears too"  
"Shut it!"  
"Both of you quiet, I've had quite enough of your senseless bickering, Celina looks nice, however you are well aware she doesn't feel so, try not to wind her up, Mr Slingby"  
Eric didn't reply properly but did mutter something about William ruining his fun. Shortly they arrived at the office; loud music could already be heard William sighed when Ronald ran ahead to catch up with a group of young reapers, whooping his excitement.  
"I guess we're too old for Ronald" Celina smiled, she preferred to watch others run about and laugh; she wasn't one for strenuous activity unless required.

Eric and Alan went their separate ways leaving William and Celina alone, William gestured to a far corner of the huge hall far from the dance floor with the band playing music, they had to play loud due to the sheer number of people chatting and laughing, and people already on the fifth drink of the evening, they walked over to the corner, where other more senior members had settled.  
"Do you intend to do much dancing tonight William?"  
"No, none at all if I can help it, yourself?"  
"No, I intend to hide in the corner, try and hide from anyone important for most of the evening"  
"then was there much point in even attending tonight?"  
"I said I would to Grell especially since she couldn't attend herself, speaking of Grell" she hesitated "is there, you know, anything, going on between you two, ya know romantically?"  
"I don't care to discuss it, and for the record no there isn't" he marched off from the corner, Celina ran to catch up, "William please, don't take offence, I meant no harm"  
he stopped and turned "then don't ask about such personal things"  
"sorry, it's just we've known each other so long, and I forget you're well, you"  
William looked down "it's fine, no need to apologise, I'm being sensitive about it" just then Ronald came and grabbed Celina's hand, "a dance my lady?" he didn't give her chance to respond, she grinned apologetically at William who hadn't been given a chance to move, Celina allowed herself to be whisked away by Ronald, when they had found a suitable space on the dance floor, Ronald put his hand on her waist and they began to dance.  
"So Ronald, I'm assuming there is a reason for this sudden dance assault"  
"yes, crazy ex-girlfriend"  
"ah, of course, Miss Saunders I presume?"  
"How'd you guess?" he said sarcastically  
"well, she Irritates the hell out of me and I never even dated her"  
"ah so you know the stories"  
"no, but her voice sounds like a drowning cat that's been on helium"  
"that's not even the worst, the stories are not quite appropriate for public telling"  
"not many of your stories are"  
"yes, well now she won't leave me alone, but I figure if she thinks I'm with you, she'll, well"  
"piss of?"  
"yes, that's the one"  
the song was almost over "will I be required to spend the rest of the evening with you Mr Knox?"  
"No, assuming she saw us dance, that should be enough to warn her off for the evening, thank you very much Ma'am" he said putting on a mock posh voice  
"it was my pleasure Sir, you truly are a sensational dancer" she said using the same plumy tones  
"cheers!" he said before disappearing into the crowd, William then took her arm, and lead her away, she looked at him silently questioning him, "whilst you were dancing with Mr Knox I found myself quite lonely, but I did take the liberty to get us some wine" he answered gesturing to the small corner table they'd been at ten minutes previously. They sat and drank several glasses of the red alcohol over the next few hours talking about this and that, and socialising briefly with anyone who stopped to chat, however it was more Celina making polite conversation while William quietly sipped his drink.  
By half twelve the party was in full swing, both at this time had had more than enough wine, "well I'm ready to go home"  
"I'll walk you, after all we live in the same house"  
"hang on I have to pee real quick"  
William only nodded and walked closely beside Celina around the side of the dance floor, the ladies toilet was just beside the main doors, when William was safely outside Celina went into them and was fastening the zip on her costume when the nasally voice of Rose Saunders (otherwise known as Ronald's crazy ex) entered the bathroom "and I saw that London supervisor dance with _my _Ron and _then _go and get drunk with Mr Spears" there were murmurings of "what a slag" or "that _slut_" wonderful end to the evening thought Celina, as she left the stall "evening ladies" she said cheerfully, remembering what Grell had taught her "be nice to those who are mean to you, nothing makes them more mad" she had stored this at the back of her head, knowing it would be of use to her, it looked like that time would be now, however, she had said she would go home with William so she would have to leave, without causing a row.

Miss Saunders however did not have a drunken man outside whom she had to get back to, her trial although slightly more trivial was the fact that Ronald might like this lanky bushy haired woman. He was hers, or so she felt, she glared at Celina, who was calmly washing and then drying her hands, Celina then swiftly moved towards the door that Rose stood herself in front of and began he speech "so I don't know who you think you are, but" this was as far as she got with her rant before Celina interrupted,  
"look, just yell at me another time if you must but I'm busy right now"  
"busy? Busy darting off with Mr Spears and my Ronald! And the rest of the London dispatch no doubt" rose shouted incredulously  
"oh god, look rose, even if I did do those things, I'm your senior, I shouldn't even have to know your name I'm so much higher up the ranks" Celina said getting dangerously close to roses face "and therefore, even if I did, you would have to put up with it, and since you are not in a relationship with any of those men, it would be none of your concern, because frankly Ronald seems rather put off by your voice that is similar to that of a drowning cat, I doubt that's the only thing though" Celina headed out the door and although she felt she had gone too far with the 'drowning cat' comment, she continued out, she was already outside the office when she heard a shout from behind "at least I don't sleep around!" it took all of three seconds for Celina to reach Rose and for her fist to find roses jaw, "you know, telling lies isn't very becoming" Rose was on the floor her nose bleeding and her jaw already bruising "I also suggest you go to the hospital, that's a nasty hit you have there" as Celina walked down some stairs toward William, Rose grabbed Celina's ankle and tripped her, she fell hard on her left leg and since she was on stairs she tumbled roughly all the way to the bottom, it was only twelve stairs but it still left her achy. William helped her gingerly stand up, she was just a little bruised and would need a bath after falling into a puddle, and unlike she would have in the past she simply walked away, people would find her walking away from a fight more interesting than a fight its self, in her youth Celina had loved a good pub brawl or any other brawl for that mater.

Neither Celina or William said anything for a while until Celina said "I'd feel better for walking away from that fight if I wasn't dressed like a slutty cat" and William did something very odd he laughed "are you? Are you laughing? William T Spears, never in all my life have I heard you laugh!" even in a drunken state William held his hand over his mouth to hide the smile. "Never in all my days had I thought you could smile! Well this put a high on the evening"

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**So, that's it really, not even a proper ending to a chapter really! If I write more I'll try harder, I promice! Please tell me if you want more! Much appreciated, and also much love to you for reading xox **


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